So very Social

Not sure if the title of the post really describes me because I am kind of shy and awkward in RL, but when it comes to social media, I’m totally obsessed. I recently read this article: 3 Mistakes you’re making online by one of my favorite RL bloggers (in fact y’all should add her to your readers because she is like a Social Media guru and I’ve learned so much from her) and it got me thinking about what my online presence is like. One thing that helps me monitor my presence online (other than googling myself) are google alerts. I’ve had google alerts setup for my SL name for a few years now. In the past year it’s amazing where my name has been popping up and how much the alerts catch which I miss just by searching. It’s a fantastic tool and I think every serious content creator in SL should look into it. It will assist you in keeping abreast of your brand and what people are saying about it.

So now I’m going to get into why I’m rambling about all this. On a daily basis I have about 5 to 10 different designers dropping either items, notecards or IMs on me asking me to blog their items. So much content that at times I don’t even get the opportunity to open it all. So I have started a screening process. I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of flack for actually blogging about this, but this is what I do. When you contact me and I haven’t heard of you before, I google you. I google your brand name, your full SL name and whatever other information you have provided and I look for a few things.

Do you have an online presence? A blog? A flickr? A place where you share your new releases so I can peruse and see what the quality of your items are before I bother to even open up the box. If you don’t have any online presence at all, it makes me slightly hesitant to blog your brand.

Is the online presence you have positive or negative? Has someone written negatively about you on another blog? Who was at fault and did you try to resolve the issue?

Are you over blogged? I know this sounds crazy but if I see 50 other bloggers already blogging the same item that you just dropped on me, I tend to shy away from blogging the item unless I am absolutely and incredibly in love with it. Only because it takes me a lot of time and energy to do one blog post. Also, I figure it’s already getting the attention it deserves, I don’t need to add to the pile.

EDIT: I just wanted to add that I hope what I wrote above does not make it seem like I don’t want to blog smaller or newer content creators. In fact, if you read my review policy you will see I am very open to receiving any content you wish to share with me and I always do my best to blog whatever I can as much as time permits me.

I think it’s really important for content creators to jump on the social media train. At least have a blog for your updates and get on flickr. I believe those are the two places people use most for shopping purposes. An online presence can do a lot for your brand, especially if you are just starting out and want to get noticed. So open up a flickr, start a blog and get those teasers out before you even open up your doors. I guarantee you it will generate buzz about your brand.

So are you ready to start getting social? Fantastic! Take a look at my social media page and see all the different networks I am a part of and how I use them. It may help you in deciding which social platforms will best suit you and your needs.

Once again Berry does it again when enlightening me on so many new things. Google Alerts sounds fantastic. Thank you for sharing! I really think your screening process is great and I get so annoyed when everyone blogs the same 5 items at the same time. It’ll be really interesting to see how your new screening process changes your blog. :) Lovely post! <3

hiya, I have also had Google alerts on my name and other things for many years, it is a must. Also something I encourage others to do, as you said, many people are blogged that never hear about it, or discussed in forums, and so on.

As for the over blogged thing, I say this all the time. While you may read feeds, or have a google reader of hundreds of blogs, your readers may only read one…YOURS. If it is not something you would normally wear, or something you would enjoy putting together that is one thing, but to not blog something because you think too many others have done so is not fair to your own readers who may just love what YOU do with it.

In my experience also, I have even had a blogger ask me about something I blogged on a tuesday that the content creator had on the feeds in every single colour the day before. How you present something can change completely how the item is seen.

I will say though, that I am never excited if a designer sends the same item out to hundreds in only a few colours,because that is often what can cause that ‘over blogged effect’ but if they do send all colours and a blogger can see that everyone tended to lean towards a certain pallette, then they can go another way.

One more thing – and yes Berry this is my version of emailing you :P – If they don’t have a blog etc, maybe look at what groups they are in, if they are honestly trying to promote themselves in world, but don’t yet realise, or are only starting to realise the effect outside has, still give them that…because I sign up so many for What’s New SL and am still shocked at how many don’t have blogs or flickr.

I along the lines of what Sasy was saying. It surprises me how many designers don’t have a flickr group. Some people may not have time to go through the feeds. And not every photographer has a blog. The ad picture can promote an item one way, but the customer may have a different vision which causes it to appeal to a different person. And flickr product groups are a great way to promote that outside the fashion feeds.

Wow, I’m honored and delighted to see your very kind words about my Almost Savvy blog with your friends here. I talk with many people who do not monitor their online presence; because they themselves are googling people, they figure no one is googling them. Not the case at all. At first, it feels somewhat narcissistic, but that feeling goes away pretty quickly. It’s strategy, not vanity. And, while you’re setting up those alerts, set up different forms of each name. For example, I have alerts for: “irene koehler”, “almost savvy”, irenekoehler, almostsavvy.